The cartoon strip The Wizard of Id that appears daily in The Times is popular in many countries, so much so that it is translated in a number of languages. The strip is syndicated and currently appears in some 1000 newspapers. The two creators of the Wizard died last year, within a few days of each other. Johnny Hart died on April 7, 2007, while Brant Parker followed on April 15.

The strip started on November 9, 1964, 44 years ago, and has been a success ever since. The name is a play on The Wizard of Oz combined with the Freudian psychological term ID. In 1997, Parker passed his duties to his son Jeff who is still responsible. The sarcasm, sheer cheek and multi-coloured characters amuse many readers. Hart had already been an established cartoonist having started with the successful series BC set in the Stone Age.

Readers seek and enjoy the motley and perverse sense of humour. The strange and lopsided logic is a joy in itself and brightens the day with its comic approach.

The Wizard of Id is still popular as ever. In 1968 Johnny Hart received a Reuben Award for his work on it and BC, an award which Brant Parker later received for it in 1984. It has been named best humour strip by the American National Cartoonist Society in 1971, 1976, 1980, 1982 and 1983. Furthermore, it has seen dozens of paperback collections published since 1965, and even now there are some still in print. This is quite an achievement considering the large number of comic strips that are published daily.

It would interest the readers to know that the Wizard has also a weekly Sunday strip in colour, perhaps The Sunday Times will consider including it for the amusement of the readers.

Good show by The Times.